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The people on Facebook (for the most part), destroy the very properties that make it a meaningful idea : To connect with people you don't otherwise get to, and to discuss the events of someone else's life. In my recent ramblings no one cares about, I try to shed light on that concept. Mainly in the bit I posted here called, "The Disease of Indifference". Obviously, I'm not directing any of this at anyone in particular, but I'm over-all quite amazed at how little the people I observe on the Internet actually care about other people. Whether on Facebook or outside of it. The only reason I created a Facebook at all was to talk to people I care about and to connect further with artists on DeviantART. Have I succeeded on either front? Well... not really. Not enough to feel like making the account was worth my time.
Basically, I think sites of this nature further distance people from one another. Create lazier, lackluster ways to connect with people, and strengthen self-absorption. I don't believe people make profiles on Facebook or Twitter because they want to connect with other people. Because they want to create stronger relationships. If that were the case, I think I would feel quite differently about it.
I'm not writing this to start an argument, and if someone tries to pull me into one, I won't bother responding. I feel like I'm the only person that feels true communication is dying. Being completely wiped out by useless formats like Twitter, Instagram, status messages no one ever responds to, and the general idea that you can post what ever you want, and it's all about you. It's all about YOUR world. Not what you can mean in someone else's.
Sites like DeviantART and Shadowness are different to me, different in the sense that you are showcasing your artwork, allowing other people to take from it what they will, responding to feedback, and giving feedback to other artists in return. The same can be said of sharing your music on Youtube, or providing information on a Blog. These things have some kind of significance. I don't see significance in posting things about your existence, while not responding to anyone else's accounts of their existence. If you post your art or music and choose not to reach out to other artists -- Well, all you're doing is making your art available. If you make a Facebook and ignore people you claim to care about -- Well, I think all you're really concerned with is your own life. Facebook is about your life, is it not? An art site is about your art. I believe there's a difference. On art sites, it's about the art. Showing it and talking about other people's art. The whole point of Facebook is to "connect with friends", and "share your life". (I'm aware people make Facebook pages to showcase their music and art. This does not apply to them). The essence of making a Facebook for yourself and not responding to other people's pages can mean nothing other than you aren't interested in other people's lives. Even the lives of your "Friends". I don't feel that can be argued, and my opinion is not going to change.
The trouble for me is this : When I care about people, I want to know what they're doing. I want to connect with them. Have meaningful conversations with them. TWO WAY conversations. Where the other person is just as interested in my life as I am in theirs, and where I can type out something extensive and they respond with something just as thoughtful. It was all I did back in the days when people used messengers and actually seemed interested in the minds of others. No one is anymore. Instead of getting on messengers and delving into one another's minds, we hone all of our energy into talking about our own life to no one in particular, to clicking the "like" button, and maybe, if we're feeling extra considerate, we might even write a short, emotionless blurb. That's not communication to me, and I may have to accept that my life will be absent of most of the communication I enjoyed with people in the past.
I tried to do it. To get on Facebook and use the site the way everyone else does, but it's a complete void. I'm not connecting with people I care about. Not in the ways I wish I could.
